In case you are just tuning in, I began a series titled Success in Babylon in response to a challenge from friends who heard me talk about teaching this series years ago when I was doing prison ministry. I accepted the challenge and intend to convert these entries into a book when we finish at year's end. While some of these messages were delivered to an audience of inmates, they are relevant for anyone who is serving the Lord in a spiritually-hostile environment and there will be many new messages I have never written or spoken about before.
Last week, we saw Daniel's faith in asking the Lord to reveal to him the king's dreams along with their interpretation. No other wise man in Babylon thought this possible, but Daniel knew that his God majored in the impossible, so he did not hesitate to ask, expecting an answer: "At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him" (Daniel 2:16). All the wise men were granted a reprieve from the king's death edict, and Daniel and his friends went to work.
DANIEL WORSHIPED
Even though Daniel expected God to answer his request, he was still overwhelmed with joy and gratitude when He did. His first response was worship:
“Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness, and light dwells with him. I thank and praise you, God of my ancestors: You have given me wisdom and power, you have made known to me what we asked of you, you have made known to us the dream of the king" (Daniel 2:20-23).
It is one thing to worship God for who He is, and we should do that with intelligence and eloquence because He is a great God if He never does another thing for us. It is quite another thing to worship Him because of what He does for us, and we should be asking and expecting God to do marvelous things, even if we are serving Him in Babylon. One time, i was on a board of directors for an organization whose finances were a mess. I offered to take the records and try to make sense out of them. The board agreed, so I took all the records, spread them out over a large table, and prayed, "Lord, You know where the money is and where I need to go." Immediately, I found the trail of the missing money. Guess what I did after that? I worshiped the Lord, thanking Him for His help.
Then I took my report to my fellow board members and they were all pleasantly surprised to hear what I had to say (there was no criminal activity; just bad record-keeping). Someone asked, "How did you find all this out so quickly?" My response was, "I prayed." The members looked around at each other nervously and repeated, "He prayed. Yeah, he prayed," and then one person yelled out, "Well, praise the Lord!" and everyone laughed. That is exactly what happened when Daniel gave his report.
THE KING WORSHIPED
When the king heard someone tell him both his dreams and their interpretation, he was amazed. What was his response? He worshiped:
Then King Nebuchadnezzar fell prostrate before Daniel and paid him honor and ordered that an offering and incense be presented to him. The king said to Daniel, “Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery" (Daniel 2:46-47).
When God sends us to Babylon, He desires that we represent Him well so that others will know and worship Him. Therefore, our goal in Babylon is worship (both personal and corporate) from both those who know Him and those who don't. When is the last time someone worshiped your God because of the job you did in Babylon? The same thing happened when the Queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon. Like Nebuchadnezzar, she was blown away by what she beheld from one of God's servants and said, "Praise be to the Lord your God, who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the Lord’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness" (1 Kings 10:9). This praise in or from Babylon is not only to be for who God is, but for what He does. They will only see what He does when they behold the work we do and the attitude of joy we have as we represent Him--no matter how tough things get.
Are you in Babylon? Is your goal survival and self-preservation, or is it worship? Are you expecting the impossible and then worshiping God when He delivers it? Are you serving the heathen "kings" in your assigned sphere and causing them to think about and maybe even worship your God? I hope you are, but it's not too late if you're not. Simply change your mindset from that of being a prisoner to being a servant of God who is free (even if you are bound and chained) to do His will. When you do, God will enhance your worship and that of those around you when you show forth the glories of His love and grace in the work that you produce. Have a blessed week.
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